Algorithms For Dummies

 

»

Breadth-first search: This technique begins at the root node, explores each of 

the child nodes first, and only then moves down to the next level. It progresses 

level by level until it finds a solution. The disadvantage of this algorithm is that 

it must store every node in memory, which means that it uses a considerable 

amount of memory for a large number of nodes. This technique can check for 

duplicate nodes, which saves time, and it always comes up with a solution.

 

»

Depth-first search: This technique begins at the root node and explores a set 

of connected child nodes until it reaches a leaf node. It progresses branch by 

branch until it finds a solution. The disadvantage of this algorithm is that it can’t 

check for duplicate nodes, which means that it might traverse the same node 

paths more than once. In fact, this algorithm may not find a solution at all, 

which means that you must define a cutoff point to keep the algorithm from 

searching infinitely. An advantage of this approach is that it’s memory efficient.